Octuplet Fertility Clinic Identified

The fertility clinic that performed the in virto fertilization on Nadya Suleman, the octuplet mom, has been identified. According to Nadya Suleman, she went to West Coast IVF Clinic in Beverly Hills in Beverly Hills, California. The clinic is headed by Dr. Michael Kamrava who's specialties are Obstetrics & Gynecology, Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility.

On his website, he describes himself as "an internationally recognized leader in the field of in vitro fertilization" who has helped pioneer "breakthrough technology that revolutionized IVF, reducing risks to both the mother and child."

According to statistics collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, his clinics performed 20 in vitro procedures in 2006 on women younger than 35. Of those procedures, four resulted in pregnancies and only two of those resulted in births. One of the patients delivered twins. His pregnancy rate and live birth rate are far below the national average, according to the statistics.

At the same time, the average number of embryos that he transferred per procedure -- 3.5 -- was among the highest in the country for women younger than 35. Fertility specialists say that a high number of embryo transfers usually reflects either a patient population with an especially poor prognosis or problems with the laboratory.

Medical guidelines established by the American Society of Reproductive Medicine recommend transferring no more than two embryos per procedure in women younger than under 35 except in "extraordinary circumstances."

Suleman told NBC's Ann Curry that her treatment was "very appropriate." He implanted six embryos, which she had remaining from previous procedures because of her medical history, which included scarred fallopian tubes.

"At the time I was so focused, so fixated on wanting so many that I just kept going," said Suleman, who is single, unemployed and lives with her mother. "The most I would have ever anticipated would have been twins. It wasn't twins times four."

Dr. Richard Paulson, who heads the fertility program at the University of Southern California, cautioned against rushing to judgment in this case because questions remain about the quality of Suleman's eggs and whether there were any extraordinary circumstances that would lead Kamrava to transfer so many embryos.

Suleman, who said she is not on government assistance, said that with six children, she was struggling financially to support them and probably would not have been able to make it without the support of her mother, who allowed the family to stay with her in her three-bedroom suburban home southeast of downtown L.A.

However, her publicist Mike Furtney said Suleman receives $490 a month in food stamps. She also receives disability payments for three of her six previous children, but Suleman did not want to disclose the nature of her children's disabilities or the nature of those payments.

Asked how she could afford in-vitro -- it typically costs between $8,000 and $15,000 -- Suleman said she had saved money and used some of the more than $165,000 in disability payments she received after being injured in a 1999 riot at a state mental hospital where she worked.

Before we jump to conclusions - Dr. Kamrava has not been identified as the doctor who performed the in vitro procedure on Nadya Suleman. But in the same light, he is responsible for everything that goes on in his clinic. Expect more details to surface regarding an investigation by the Medical "police" in California.

source: LA Times, Associated Press